PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University women's lacrosse team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday at Rooney Field, prior to its home finale against George Washington.
 
The Colonials (5-11, 3-4) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and cruised to a 19-11 victory. Duquesne (2-13, 1-7) got as close as three multiple times, but could not overcome the early deficit.
 
Graduating seniors Jillian Caroselli and Mady Piersielak were honored with a pregame ceremony. Caroselli celebrated with the first score of the afternoon for the Red and Blue, breaking the ice with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter. Piersielak played all 60 minutes in net and made 14 saves for Duquesne, her sixth game with double digits this season.
 
Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw, the Atlantic 10's leading scorer, added four more goals and an assist to her season tally making it 14 straight games with multiple goals. Mackenzie Leszczynski and Chelsea Evans each recorded a hat trick, and Caroselli's opening goal rounded out the Duquesne scoring. Leszczynski added two assists for a five-point afternoon, along with a game-high six draw controls.
 
The Dukes closed the first half on a 5-2 run, including three straight goals to narrow the margin to 9-6 at the break. Evans and Rodriguez-Shaw had two each during the spurt, while Leszczynski added her first of the day just 11 seconds after Rodriguez-Shaw drained her second with 4:29 to play in the half.
 
After an even third period, 2-2, the Colonials opened the final 15 minutes with three scores in the first three minutes to go up 14-8 and a late rally evaded Duquesne as all three of its fourth quarter goals were answered within two minutes.
 
The Dukes defense held GW off the board from the free position (0-2), the first FP shutout of the conference season for DU, while capitalizing on three of its five attempts on the offensive arc.
 
Hanna Pawela forced a game-high four turnovers and scooped up four ground balls, pacing four Dukes with multiple in the game.
 
Duquesne will conclude the season next Saturday at Richmond. First draw is set for 11:30 am.
 
Follow Duquesne Lacrosse all season online at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqLax).